Feel sick/nauseous while eating

[Nightmanagerfan]

I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this and what it could be. Recently I have found that I often feel sick/nauseous either while making food, or about two minutes after I start eating. It's not that I'm not hungry, but once the feeling comes on I find it difficult to continue to eat.

It just happened again during dinner, and I wondered if anyone could shed any light.

(I asked a family member who is a GP and she was baffled.)

Are you pregnant?

Definitely not pregnant (just finished my period), but the feeling is the same as when I was. It's a mystery.

I get this quite often. Sometimes it's blood sugar related. Sometimes it's just quite random. I don't think there's a cause (although I'm taking acid reflux meds for a different reason and that seems to have helped)

@mynameiscalypso that's interesting- what do you mean by blood sugar related?

I have been doing intermittent fasting and now I realise this has only begun since I started fasting. (I do 16/8 so I only eat between 1 and 9pm.)

@Nightmanagerfan I'm not an expert at all and I'm probably not saying anything scientific at all but it definitely occurs more when I haven't eaten and feel a bit all over the place. Actually, if you've been fasting, it might be gastroparesis. I have had that before too when I've been not eating all day and then just have dinner.

Fascinating. I've just looked up gastroparesis and I don't think it's that as it says most cases are related to diabetes.
I might go back to three meals a day and see how I get on.

It's also a very common side effect of anorexia/eating disorders - not saying you have one at all! - but the pattern of intermittent fasting is very similar to the eating patterns of some anorexics (I am one, it was my psychiatrist who diagnosed it). If it's related to anorexia/fasting then the best solution is to eat little and often.

I've had this for years, most commonly if I'm doing any cooking or preparing - start feeling nauseous and can't stomach eating it.

Interestingly I get a sicky, queasy sensation at pretty much the same time every night - between 5.30 and 6.30pm. I can remember getting it as a child - I'd have been ravenous all afternoon and looking forward to my tea, but like clockwork I'd feel rubbish and lose my appetite at 6pm when food was served. Still get the sensation now at age 52, even if DH and I have been planning and enthusing over a nice tea all day!

So weird. I also have terrible reflux and regurgitation at night, which started in my 20's - I take medication and a recent gastroscopy confirmed everything completely normal, yet it persists. I am fat, but I had the symptoms during slim years as well.

That's so interesting re eating disorders. I don't have one.

I'm still breastfeeding my three year old, and wonder if my body can't cope with fasting while this is going on.

@violetsparkle gosh I can't imagine having this constantly. Must be so annoying

Could it be that you're just too hungry? I second the low blood sugar thing (it's been so long since you ate and the low blood sugar is making you feel sick).

Also, I have IBS and if I was too hungry, I used to often get awful stomach cramps as soon as I started eating and then couldn't eat.

Slightly off topic (but I see a significant connection)

When I first got interest in intermittent fasting (IF), I tried out different ways of eating and word a continuous blood sugar (CGM) monitor so that I could see the impact of fasting on my blood sugar.

Eating low carb (as many green veg as I could cram down my throat with enough meat and fat to make the vegetables palatable) was highly compatible with IF. So long as I drank plenty of water, my blood sugar was completely stable and I was completely devoid of hunger.

I believe that the low carb and resulting absence of insulin makes my body ideally adapted to burn fat of which I have ample but diminishing stocks

Wearing a GCM would let you see what is happening to your blood sugar levels and confirm or rule out any connection between the nausea and loss of appetite you are experiencing. They last for about fourteen days and can be bought online for just less than £60. A bit of a luxury but in this situation offers potential for a really useful insight into how your body is working.

Hope you find what you need.

I also thought gastropareisis; I have it post-virally and am not a diabetic. You might have slowed your digestion down through fasting enough that it’s uncomfortable to eat. Have you tried eating something small before starting cooking? Also, some foods are harder to move along than others.

This thread is really interesting. I have had this on and off throughout my life and now I think about it, it has definitely been during periods of disordered eating.

I have been doing mounjaro and have been nauseated when I have low blood sugar or just haven’t eaten all day. I have found that if I eat little and often the nausea goes.
It will be the intermittent fasting ….

The consensus does seem to point towards the fasting. I'm torn because I started doing IM to lose some weight and it worked, then I found I was happy eating that way, but as PP suggested it might only work if you eat low carb while doing it. When I started doing IM I was eating very low carb and being quite careful about the nutritional value of meals (high protein, lots of veg, healthy fats, lots of water etc). We've just been on holiday and there have been more carbs and treats around and it clearly doesn't work with IM for me. Eg today I felt very sick after eating about four bites of a vegetarian gnocchi dish.

@Likemyjealouseel I've tried having a handful of nuts before cooking but it doesn't help

@olympicsrock it makes complete sense that it's blood sugar related doesn't it. Hope you're getting on with Monjaro - I keep seeing good results with it on here.

I also forgot to say I'm still breastfeeding my almost three year old (just at bedtime and in the morning), and I wonder if theres also something about IM that doesn't work with the hormonal levels while breastfeeding

@FinallyHere that's a good shout re the monitor. I considered Zoe but it's quite expensive. Where can you get one for £60? I think that might be worth it

For some reason I have abbreviated intermittent fasting to "IM" instead of IF. But hopefully you know what I mean!

I get this too, also when I haven’t eaten for a while. I also get an awful headache and feel quite lightheaded and unsteady if I go too long without enough food.

Fasting causes this. Acid reflux can also contribute.

I’d suggest eating little and often, and then trying some omeprazole or similar to see if it continues.

Lots of different CGM , I used https://www.freestyle.abbott/uk-en/products/freestyle-libre-2.html

And yes, it was the most useful part of the Zoe programme for me. I wore the monitor again a year later and was pleased to see my overall base line had dropped while blood sugar remained pretty stable.